Making my shopping list for Sephora F&F Sale =D And other randomness

Herro herrrrrrroooo guys!! =D

LONG TIME NO BLOG. Just the usual. Been SUPER busy with school. Just finished 5 exams in 3 weeks (I can't help but think if they intentionally do this to test our limit...). Blah blah blah XD

So today I just have a rather random post to share... since the Sephora Friends and Family 20% off sale is coming up on 10/18/2012-10/31/2012 (mark your calenders gals!) I thought it'd be fun to share with you guys what's on my shopping list =D


I'm sure you see it coming. HECK YES. I need 20% on this foundation! Seriously I can't wait to put my order in for this foundation >w<


I was gonna get this from Sephora but I think I'm just gonna order it from Amazon because I found better deals there (I found the best deal on Sasa.com BUT I'm scared if I order more than $100 I'll be charged custom fees, so Amazon seems a better choice). Is this miracle water to me? No. But I actually did see a difference in my skin. My skin definitely feels and looks more plump and hydrated when I use this toner. I "might" have been seeing some evening out of my complexion but honestly if I don't get much sleep (which I don't really nowadays) then the toner is not gonna make it any better. But anyway, I do want to commit to using this toner. Now I have officially aged another year I want to upgrade my skincare and have more anti-aging products.


I might get this, I might not. I currently do have a bottle of this and I'm almost running out. I really do like this sunscreen for colder/drier fall/winter and even spring days (I tried using this sunscreen in the summer it did make me greasy so I had to opt for something else). It's really perfect/suitable for this weather for my skin now, but I just want to try something new lol. If I don't find anything I will repurchase another small bottle of this.

So I really do want to invest in a good sunscreen. I've been really looking into The La Mer SPF 30 UV Protecting Fluid

It comes with a very hefty price tag, but on the Nordstrom website it looks like it does contain a lot of benefit to the skin. So I went to the store to take a look at it today but the ingredients don't look terribly exciting to me O_O (but I do like the texture). Luckily seeing me at war the MUA at the La Mer was so nice to just volunteer to give me a sample to try out at home, cuz I'm not gonna know if there's any beauty benefit unless I actually do try the products out you know XD so while I was there I asked for a sample for the foundation as well. Why not XD

Very excited to try these ^_^

Besides La Mer, the other sunscreens I'm considering include the Dior Snow

Although I'm not that eager to try it out... I just generally don't have much luck with Dior skin products -_-

Also looking into a Korean sunscreen from HERA called Sun Mate Daily

So far read and seen a lot of positive reviews and is the cheapest of the bunch XD but it will take about 3 weeks for this product to ship to me... O_O



Okay now back to my Sephora shopping list XD




Been eyeing this product for a while now. It's supposed to make your legs look super nice and glowy. I may or may not get this. What's the point of getting this in the winter months =_= but then again I want to purchase it when there's a sale cuz I don't think I'll ever want to purchase this at full price.



Again, may or may not purchase XD (I guess this is more like a want list than an actual shopping list ahaha) A very close friend of mine is really into perfumes and she actually chose this fragrance for me because she wanted to challenge me to try something that I don't normally go for XD and I actually do really like this perfume! So we'll see =D


Another may or may not purchase. Been really wanting to try the MUFF Duo Matte Powder Foundation. I mainly want it to use it in conjunction with my Mat Velvet+. But I already have my beloved Lancome compact foundations -.- so I can't really justify buying this. So again, we'll see XD


Okay that's pretty much it for my shopping list! What's on your shopping list???? Share with me! =D


Onto other random stuff...

I officially jumped on the burning-candles-for-the-fall bandwagon XD

.... only to come home and found that we don't have a lighter at home LMAO. FAIL. Haha can't blame myself cuz I'm just not a candle person. But I really like these scents ^_^ For some reason been really wanting to make my room smell like food -__-|||| I think it's because these scents to me are very warm and comforting? lol! Gotta buy a lighter so I can try them out.


I also got this hair bun thingy from H&M

I forgot whose video I saw on Youtube but someone was saying this is exactly like the sock bun method but even better. Since I can't do a sock bun to save my life, I was excited to try this. I still can't quite figure it out O_O any of you have had any success with this?????? (How come the girls make it look so easy on youtube haha)


A complimentary gift from Aveda =D

It's from their aroma therapy and I was able to choose an oil that I want to make into my "perfume." (if you're part of the Aveda's reward program then you get gift vouchers for this for your bday!! At least that's what they're doing now lol) I chose Lavender and some other herb I can't remember XD but it's very calming... very zen... XD planning to use it on my wrists at bedtime to help me relax.



Finally... I got yet another lipstick from MAC. Gawd I can't seem to stop my lipstick frenzy >.<

Cremesheen formula


The color is in Ravishing, a really nice peachy nude =D


The color is a little bit off here since it's yellow lighting.


Somewhat fair presentation of the lip color here =D


Okay that's all I have today guys ^_^ I'm off to bed to sleep... and sleep... and sleep....
Night world <3

<3 Frances

Giorgio Armani Maestro Fusion Foundation Review... Sort of

Hi guys!


****image credit goes to Nordstrom****

I know you probably all went "?" when you saw the title... a "sort of" review? What does that even mean?!

Well the reason why this is a sort-of review is because this is gonna be a very crude review... more like a one-day wear impression/review. I am not able to come up with a thorough review because this foundation did break me out. I noticed my face was itchy throughout the day, and had to tissue it off as soon as I got home. Then after I removed and cleansed my face properly I still felt itchy and noticed red little bumps along my jawline and a little bit on my cheeks. I treated my face immediately with active charcoal mask and some yogurt and next day I woke up to some dry patches along my jawline instead (which is a good thing by the way). There are still some red bumps on my cheeks but they don't bother me as much because they don't itch. My only concern now is the itchy patches on my chin. So luckily I only wore this for one day so it didn't get out of control, but with that said I'm not about to try and test out this foundation further. Luckily I did have time to snap some photograph the first day I tried it so hopefully that will give you some idea about the finish and texture! :)


So the Maestro foundation is very liquidy, and as most of you probably have heard, contains A TON of silicone. It actually reminds me of the Loreal Base Magique Transforming Smoothing Primer, except the Loreal primer is in a mousse form and GA is in liquid (and is a foundation obviously).

It's very watery. The MUA gave me a ton of sample now I don't know what I'm gonna do with it =T and excuse my chipped nail polish.


If you're familiar with Giorgio Armani, you will know that his foundation generally leans more orange than neutral. My shade is in 4.5, which is slightly orange on me but nothing too bad.




Can you tell the foundation accentuates lines/dryness a bit?


This picture captures the dryness much better. This is why after I initially swatched it at store I was no longer excited/eager to try this foundation anymore-- I was immediately put off by the texture. I usually look for something creamier.


From afar it doesn't look too bad, however I don't feel like it enhances the look of my skin either

Here I have the Maestro foundation and YSL Touche Eclat for comparison. I much prefer the YSL finish because it doesn't make my skin look dry, but rather makes my skin look more radiant and hydrated.


I have to admit though, the Maestro foundation does perform a bit better after being applied to my face.

I don't have the before and after comparison because I thought I was gonna review this foundation more... so yeah.


I don't really understand why people keep saying YSL Touche Eclat is a sheer foundation and Maestro is not??? Because in my opinion Maestro doesn't have more coverage than YSL. In fact, I think YSL have more coverage than Maestro. I did use quite a bit to achieve this finish (on the website it says you're supposed to only need 1-2 drops... well I don't have the droplet dispenser but I do believe I had to use more than that to cover my redness. But this foundation is quite buildable I will give it that.

Anyway while I'm not really fond of this foundation (I feel like it makes my skin look dry especially around my nose). I want to say this foundation does minimize pores pretty well and gives that soft-focusing/blurred effect on the skin. It was hard to photograph these pictures because this foundation kept mis-focusing my camera XD





Overall effect. I look so serious LMAO. Looks pretty good in the pic but I just don't like it when I see the finish up close in person -_-"


And in terms of oil control... this foundation absolutely fails. With YSL Touche Eclat which is a dewy foundation I got 4-5 hours of wear without any noticeable shine. And I noticed oil seeping through within 30 minutes of wearing this foundation.




After about 8 hours

It held up reasonably well on my cheeks (normal skin), but you can obviously see the oil has broken through the foundation on my nose (so gross haha but just want to give you guys an idea how it holds up on combination skin). And you might notice the foundation has faded somewhat on my nose.



So I'm not fond of how this foundation wears either. When I get oily the oil doesn't meld in with the foundation, it kind of just sits there and is pretty noticeable. In conclusion, this foundation is definitely more suitable for those who have normal skin (dry skin might want to stay away as I do feel like it emphasizes dry/patchiness).



That concludes my "review" for the Maestro foundation. While this foundation is definitely a miss for me (it broke me out!!! T__T haven't had a reaction from a foundation in a while), I still encourage those who are interested to get a sample, and just try it out! I honestly think I'm the only person giving a negative review on this foundation orz... seek second opinion! Just because this foundation doesn't work for me, it doesn't mean it won't work for you!

I hope some of you found this review helpful! =) Have a great week guys!



<3 Frances

Samples & Haul-- SK-II, Lancome, MAC lipsticks, Giorgio Armani Maestro foundation... and F21!

Hi guys!



So this post is kind of all over the place XD just some of the samples I recently acquired and of course some purchases XD and some clothes I tried on while I was at F21 =D


A while ago there was this SK-II craze going on on Youtube about the Facial Treatment Essence... from what I could tell I haven't heard a single negative review on this product. So I was stoked to see the sample sizes when I was browsing Sasa.com! I'm not ready to dish out $195 for a toner after all.

I've been using it for about a week now and I noticed it actually has been evening out my skin tone... however I'm not quite sure because I'm also using Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum so I'm not sure which one is contributing to the even-ness XD I'm 90% sure it's this though because my face is usually redder after I wash my face in the morning but this makes my face back to normal after I use it... and I don't use Estee Lauder in the morning. I'll have to use it more to see =D

By the way Sasa order takes forever to arrive =_= took mine about 5 weeks to pass customs and everything. I almost thought my package was lost in transit lol!

I also picked up a sample size SK-II Skin Signature moisturizer after reading the review on Closet Voyage.

Chococcuro stated that after using this moisturizer she noticed her skin is more balanced where she is oily/dry... and you guys all know how oily my nose gets LOL. Haven't used this yet cuz I'm still trying to finish up my Clinique moisturizer.


I laughed when I saw this. It says "free gift/sample, not for sale." LOL apparently it costs about $20 for this supposed free gift.


Also picked up another moisturizer. Haven't used it either, gonna reserve this for the winter =D


A free sample I got from my Sasa purchase... Actually completely forgot about this until I started working on this post... *coughs* might just use this tonight.

Also got some samples when I went to Origins to pick up another Clear Improvement Active Charcoal mask =D

Haven't used this as well... I have so many skin care samples/products I'm trying to go through...


Firming cream is always welcome =D ohhhh double chinnnnn lol


Got these Lancome samples a while ago... they were giving out free gift sets if you purchase $35 or more... which honestly isn't that hard cuz you know... it's Lancome...

It probably will be a long time before I get to this day time moisturizer... still working on my Shiseido and Origins LOL


Really want to just open this and use it already =D but... I'm currently using Jeune d'age (which by the way my verdict is out it doesn't do anything for my eyes I feel absolutely no difference) and Origins GinZing and this sample eye cream I got from Kiehl's... so yeah... it will be a while as well T^T We'll see. I might put the Jeune d'age one on blog sale since I'm feeling nothing. The GinZing at least definitely depuffs my eyes.


A friend gave me the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum sample cuz she knew I wanted to try it =DDDDDDD so sweet of her! It's a very small bottle and I think I will be out of it soon... but honestly so far I can't feel any difference either LOL just like when I used Lancome Genifique (although while Lancome Genifique doesn't make any difference on my complexion it does help my skin heal faster).


Next an early birthday gift set =D Hahahaha it's not my birthday month yet but I was too excited to wait XD been drooling after these ever since I saw a friend hers for her bday month. Been dying to try these since I heard so many great things! But $22.50 is just too much for me to splurge on a lip balm when there are so many cheap and effective ones.



Also stopped by MAC to pick up some lipsticks...



When I first saw Rebel I thought it looks exactly the same as Media... but it actually turns out much lighter upon swatching. I also picked up Freckletone because I've been looking for a dupe for Dior's nude lipstick because I use it almost every day and love the color so much! However while Freckletone and Dior look really similar under the Nordstrom's yellow lighting... they look completely different under natural light. So I'm a bit bummed out (see this is why you never just try out a foundation inside a store cuz the lighting is so misleading!!!!!! Grrrr) but I still like the color! Compared to Dior I think it suits even better for a tanned person lol. I might go back to the store and exchange it for something closer to Dior... we'll see.



Next... my main reason why I had to go to Nordstrom =D Hellooooo Giorgio Armani Maestro foundation!!!!!! =DDDDDDD

While I'm waiting around for the promotion sale at Sephora to purchase the YSL Touche Eclat foundation .... I am finally starting to see more reviews for this foundation! (particularly I was waiting for Raeview). I was so excited when I saw such a positive review from her because I have been waiting for this foundation for so long. But anyway when I swatched it at store I kind of went from o(≧ω≦)o to  (⊙＿⊙)

It's not really what I was expecting I guess? It feels wayyy too silicone-y... it's not the smooth texture that I usually look for in liquid foundations. Furthermore upon swatching it kind of emphasizes the fine lines on the back of my hand... making my skin look dry. So we'll see. Will need to try this on my face to see if I actually like it of course. But so far not overly excited about it anymore.


Okay now onto stuff unrelated to makeup... have you guys tried the chocolate dipped macaroons at Godiva? =D

Those are my favorite treats XD they're pretty heavy though so you're warned XD I usually eat them over a few days lol. But everytime I go to the mall I have to get me some of these XD Not usually a fan of coconut but this is so good >_<

Next I went clothes shopping at Forever 21 =D I feel like F21 is the only place I shop at nowadays LOL which is a bit embarrassing because I always have at least one F21 item on me whenever I go shopping there LOL. These are not all the clothes I got... just the ones I managed to snap photos... planning on doing a F21 haul video =D



This is what I wore that day. Hahaha going for dark colors now it's fall. Was wearing a white beanie to brighten up the outfit but it was too hot to keep it on. Anyway cardigan was from Urban Outfitters that I got years ago, shorts are from Taiwan, and boots from F21 LOL.



I did end up purchasing this over-sized sweater =D it's actually from the plus size section LMAO. Got so many weird looks when I was browsing in that section lololol but I just love how comfy and big and loose it fits. Very comfy =D Will be pairing this with shorts or tights depending on the weather. And of course boots =D



Also purchased this black shirt... I like the lace collar and it has interesting shoulders that I don't normally go for... but it has that vintage feel to it =D


Kind of regretting I didn't pick this up cuz I did like this a lot but ended up getting the other white shirt... hmmmm should I go back and get it? =T can't find it on the website.


I thought this is cute but they only have large left so... it's not meant to be XD


I am digging the leather collar and cuffs I thought it has very edgy feel to it =D This is why I didn't purchase that last white shirt cuz they're both kind of similar....... yet different.... ahhh!!! lol.

Anyway, that's all I have to share today =D Hope you guys didn't mind the randomness of this post. Okay gotta get back to studying. Hope you guys have a great Sunday <3



<3 Frances